Harrison Horton Dodd (February 29, 1824 – June 2, 1906) was a founder of the 1860s-era OSL (Order of
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...
),
[ ] a paramilitary secret society which was a continuation and/or extension of the KGC (
Knights of the Golden Circle
The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle ( es, Círculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. T ...
). The basic goal of members of the OSL was to thwart the war efforts of the Union military forces (as epitomised in the war policies of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
and his close political and military allies), while remaining citizens of the United States.
Life
Harrison Horton Dodd was born in
Brownville, New York
Brownville is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 6,263 at the 2010 census, up from 5,839 in 2000. The town is named after Jacob Brown, an early settler and leader.
Brownville is located in the western part ...
. In his early adult life he moved to
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
, where he unsuccessfully ran for mayor under the
Know-Nothing Party
The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
banner in 1855. He moved to
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
the next year,
establishing himself as a printer and an active participant for the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
. He died in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. Genealogy of the Daniel Dod family page 89
During the first year of the war, when Democrats were sometimes forced to take oaths of allegiance, Dodd advertised to start "Marion Dragoons," a company of soldiers to fight for the Union army. However, the company never actually formed.
Political career
Dodd frequently campaigned against
Oliver P. Morton
Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877), commonly known as Oliver P. Morton, was a U.S. Republican Party politician from Indiana. He served as the 14th governor (the first native-born) of Indiana during the Amer ...
's and Abraham Lincoln's policies, going so far as to help start the Sons of Liberty after becoming disillusioned with the OAK (
Order of American Knights), although he never called the Sons that by name. By all accounts he was the most important
Copperhead
Copperhead may refer to:
Snakes
* ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America
* '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...
in Indianapolis.
[Bodenhamer p. 508] In 1863 a speech given by Dodd at
Rensselaer, Indiana
Rensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,859 at the 2010 census, up from 5,294 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Jasper County. Saint ...
convinced a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
preacher that Dodd was a traitor. The local
provost marshal without the authority to do so arrested Dodd. Local Democrats threatened a riot, and Dodd was freed with a promise that he would stop any such riot from occurring.
Felix Grundy Stidger (1836–1908), a
U.S. Secret Service Agent who had successfully infiltrated the OSL (Order of Sons of Liberty) and held the position of Grand Secretary of the OSL for the state of Kentucky, claimed that Dodd was planning on the releasing of the Confederate prisoners at
Camp Morton.
On August 20, 1864 Dodd's offices were raided by the Union military, recovering thousands of rounds of ammunition and 400 revolvers, labelled "Sunday school books". Several of his co-conspirators, including
William A. Bowles, were arrested. Dodd escaped into Canada.
He was convicted of treason by a military commission and sentenced to be hanged. President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on May 31, 1865. The conviction of the co-conspirators went through the federal courts, and eventually reached the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, where Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
issued a writ of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'', freeing them, on April 3, 1866. On December 17, the Court ruled that since the civil courts were still functioning in Indiana at the time they were convicted by
military commission, the convicted were denied constitutional protections and were freed under a holding styled as ''
Ex parte Milligan.
[Bodenhamer pp. 444, 445, 508]
Returning from Canada after the trials, Dodd served several terms as mayor of
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...
as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
,
joining the party of his wartime enemies Morton and Lincoln.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Harrison H.
1824 births
1906 deaths
People from Brownville, New York
Ohio Know Nothings
Indiana Democrats
Copperheads (politics)
People of Indiana in the American Civil War
People sentenced to death in absentia
People convicted of treason against the United States
Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States military
Recipients of American presidential clemency
Wisconsin Republicans
Politicians from Toledo, Ohio
Politicians from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Mayors of places in Wisconsin
Wisconsin politicians convicted of crimes